Priscilla Beach Theatre opens a second act with new owner

Bob Malone ignored the contractors who wanted to tear down the 19th-century barn where Paul Newman and Rob Reiner took the stage. Malone, the new owner of Priscilla Beach Theatre, was determined to preserve a landmark of the once proud and revered summer stock theater.

“I probably had eight people look at the barn, and six said, ‘Tear it down,’” said Malone, 51, who acted in the barn when he was a teenager. “But I couldn’t do that.”

Malone joked that his quest to return summer stock to the barn at Priscilla Beach Theatre is like Don Quixote tilting at windmills, pursuing a vision that others don’t see. A bank was about to foreclose on the property when Malone purchased it last year from artistic director and actor Geronimo Sands, who has run the theater since he bought it in 1962.

“There are 60 or 70 reasons why I shouldn’t do this, but I don’t think about them,” said Malone, who grew up nearby and now lives on Priscilla Beach. “I feel in my gut that this is the right thing to do. If I want it preserved, and I do, I thought, ‘I’m just going to have to do it.’”

Malone plans to invest up to $3 million of his own money to create a summer stock theater complex on the two-acre site, where only four of the original 16 buildings remain – the barn, farmhouse, a dormitory and ice house. The others have been replaced by private homes. It’s an investment he doesn’t expect to recoup.

“My goal is to bring back summer stock and run a theater that will break even,” Malone said. “That would be a success.”

In just a year, Malone already has transformed the theater complex by renovating facilities and adding adult cast shows to the longstanding children’s workshop program. The black box theater now is state-of-the-art, with new sound, lighting and dressing rooms. Earlier this month, Sands starred in sold-out performances of “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Tickets now are on sale for the musical “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” which will be performed Friday through Sunday and Aug. 1-Aug. 3 on a new tented outdoor stage.

For the summer of 2015, when the barn will be rebuilt, Malone will present “Fiddler and the Roof” and “Chicago.” By 2016, he hopes to have a resident troupe of college theater students, who will live in the former dormitory that had been sold off and Malone purchased and renovated. Its sign – Residences for Actresses and Rehearsal Halls – has the same words as the original.

Sitting in the farmhouse that houses the black box theater, Malone spoke of the responsibility he and his wife, Sandy, feel toward the legacy.

“We’re the owners, but more importantly, we are the guardians,” Malone said.

In its heyday from the 1940s through 1960s, Priscilla Beach Summer Theatre was home to the Plymouth Drama Festival. Aspiring young actors trained at one of the largest summer theater colonies and put on a new show each week for the public. Some shows featured famous guest artists such as Gloria Swanson. The theater opened on eight acres of the former Taylor Farm in 1937, a time when summer stock thrived in New England.

Among the students who became stars are Paul Newman, who attended in 1948; Rob Reiner, in 1957; and Peter Gallagher, in 1974 and 1975. Old photographs and publicity materials – and even a contract signed by Paul Newman – preserve the vibrancy of those years, which gradually faded until the summer stock ended around 1980 and was replaced with children’s theater.

Malone, who has been telling alumni about the theater’s second act, expects some will return to the place that nurtured their careers. Gallagher, a Broadway and film actor who also starred in the television show “The O.C.,” wrote this email to Malone:

“PBT gave me a glimpse of a life I wanted and the joy of making something with people I love and admire for others to enjoy – in spite of the odds ... Can't wait to see another show in that beautiful barn!”

On a recent day, carpenters worked on the barn, a massive structure with a soaring roof line and large stage. When the rotten wood and weak beams are replaced and new siding is added, the barn will be outfitted with 194 new seats and the latest in sound and lighting equipment, as well as handicapped-accessible bathrooms.

Malone, a musical theater fan since childhood, developed his love for Priscilla Beach as a young teenager in the late 1970s inspired by Sands. He acted in shows and helped out with sets, props and parking cars. After studying economics at Framingham State College and earning an MBA degree from Northeastern, he co-founded LeapFrog Systems in 2000, a software consulting firm with offices in Boston, Dallas and Raleigh. He remains the president and CEO.

Sands eyes light up when he speaks about Malone’s rescue of the theater.

“He has much more than money,” Sands said. “He has the lineage, the love of theater and the generosity to give.”

For Malone, the lasting lessons from his Priscilla Beach Theatre years were not about acting – something he admits to doing poorly. They were the rewards of collaboration, creativity combined with discipline, and understanding people and their lives.

“It’s such an amazing thing to step out of yourself and be another person,” said Malone whose four children ages 9 to 20 are participants and assistants in the summer workshops. “When everything comes together in a show, there’s a euphoria.”

These days, Malone still shows a theatrical flair. Around town, he can be seen driving a 1937 red Chevy truck, which he purchased to honor the year the theater opened and to publicize its new life. Broadway in a Barn is painted on its side, and its flatbed sports a marquee with posters of “Spelling Bee.” It’s a mobile advertisement for a theater that is here to stay.

Jody Feinberg may be reached at jfeinberg@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @JodyF_Ledger.